Nail setter



April 1o, 192s. 1,665,669

E. F. MALOUF NAIL SETILER Filed Feb. l2. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @ggz/f fawn/Po AIA/.auf-

ATTORNEYS.

April 10, 1928. 1,665,669

E. F. MALOUF NAIL SETTER Filed Feb. l2c 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Evm 33 lNvENToR 'owAiD/M/uoar W y@ r ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. l0, 1928.

EDWARD F. MALOUF, OF MAR-YSVILLE, CALIFORNIA NAIL sET'rER.

Application led February 12, 1927. Serial No. 167,744.

My invention relates to nail Setters adapted for setting nails at predetermined spots, and it appertains particularly to nail setters adapted for the use of workmen, such as shoemakers, cobblers, shinglers, carpet and linoleum layers, yor others, who are required to set a. quantity of nails or tacks of the same kind.

The main object of the invention is to provide a nail setter, which is adapted to receive a number of nails therein and to be moved to a nail-setting position and held and manipulated by one hand of an operator yso as to cause the nails to be conveyed one at a. time to the setting position, while the operators other hand is free to set the nails with a. hammer. The invention thus substitutes a safe method of nail-setting for the prevailing practice among workmen to take a number of nails in the mouth, a practice often resulting in injury to the teeth of the workman and causing the workman to swallow some of the nails so that his health is thereby jeopardized.

Another important objectof the invention is to provide manually operated means for releasably holding a nail in the nail setter Ain order that, when the nail is placed in the setting position on an object, the operator, by exerting the required amount of pressure upon the nail and by contacting the point of the nail with the surface of the object, may slide the nail so that the head thereof is pushed out of Contact with the nail setter and therefore the nail can be hit with a hammer without liability to injury of the nail setter.

A further object is to provide a nail setter with means for yieldingly retaining the nails therein, so that, when the nails are released from the means for holding them in the position for setting, they may also be easily freed from the nail setter without causing injury to the latter.

A still further object is to provide a nail setter with means for adjusting it so as to accommodate nails or tacks of different thickness.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a nail setter with a guide member adapted to engage the edge of an object so that the nail setter may be moved along the edge for setting nails at predetermined spots on the object.

Still further objects and features will appear from the following detailed description.,

having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated and in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of the nail setter, with the operating parts thereof` in their normal position;

Figure 2 is a plan of the nailsetter, with the operating parts in the positions shown in Figure l, and with the guide member in engagement with the edge of a shoe sole, which is indicated by a dot-and-dash line,v while. the predetermined spots, at which the' nails in the nail setter may be set, are indicated by a dotted line;

Figure 3 is a plan of the nail setter, with a portion of the nail conveyer' in section Iin order to show clearly the bars that operate so as to allow only one n-ail at a. time to pass through the conveyer, the bar nearest to the nail receptacle. having been moved by the sliding movement of the receptacle so thatl it retains the nails in the conveyer, while the other bar at the same time has been moved so as to allow one nail to passl to the free end of the conveyer, where itis held by the nail-holding member, preparatory tothe setting of the nail;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a portion of the plate, upon which the nail receptacle and the nail conveyer are supported,I and the free end portion of the nail conveyer, with the element for releasably holding a nail therein, and also the means, by which the element is manually operated, and the connections of the manually operated meanswith the supporting plate and the nail conveyer, the operating parts being in their position. for holding a nail in the nail conveyer; v

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan ofthe free end portion of the nail conveyer and shows the spring for retaining the nails at the end of the conveyer, the rocking element in the conveyer, and also parts of the manual-ly operated means for actuating the rocking element, which is shown in its nail-holding position, a portion of the conveyer member, in which the rocking element is mounted, and the pivot for the rocking, element, as-y well as the nail held thereby, being taken sectionally above the rocking element in order to disclose clearly the operation of the element; A

Figure 6 .is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation of the nail setter having attachedthereto a specially formed'A guide member, which is particularly adapted for the use of shinglers, the guide member being shown as applied to three layers of shingles Whch are indicated by dot-anddash lines; an

vFigure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in Figure 3, the View showing the screw with the taper end for adjustably separating the bars in the nail conveyer, and the spring that urges the bars into a yielding contact with the taper end.

In the drawings the complete nail setter of my invention is indicated by the numeral 1. This nail setter comprises a frame 2, which includes a main handle 3 iXed to one end of the frame by any suitable means. i In the preferred form of the invention. the frame has at its other end a guide member 4,' which is provided with a stem 5 adapted to be threaded into theframe so as to be adjustably secured thereto. By this arrangement an operator may take hold of the handle and, after placing the frame upon an object so that the guide member contacts one edge 'of the object, niay thereby move the nail setter along the'edge, which in Figure 2 is indicated `by a dot-and-dash line as being the edge of a shoe sole, for setting nails at predetermined spots on the sole, as indicated by a dotted line in the same ligure.

The handle 3 is preferably hollow and has adjustably secured therein the shank of a mounting member 6 by screws 7, and tothe head of this mounting member is lixed a bar 8, which extends with its major portion in the general direction of the frame 2. Upon the mounting member 6 are also lixed guide plates 9 and 10, each of which is provided with an* opening 11 for slidably receiving a rod 12 therein, and other plates 13 and 14- are respectively attached to the guide plates 9 and for retaining the rod 'l2 inthe openings 11 of the guide plates. Outside ot the plate 10 the rod 12 is connected with one end of an auxiliary handle 15, which has its other end attached to another rod 16 slidably ex tending through the main handle 3 in a sub stantially parallel relation to the rod 12, and springs' 17 and 18 are coiled around the respective rods 12 and 16,v a pin 19 Vbeing provided for engaging one end of the yspring 17, and a pin 2O being similarly provided for engaging one end of the spring 18, while the springs with their other ends respectively contact the plate 10 andthe handle 3.

The nail setter 1 further comprises a nail receptacle 21 consisting of wall portions 22 and 23 and having the portion 22 provided with wall additions 24, which converge toward the bottom of the receptacle, and the side portions of the receptacle are preferably correspondingly inclined toward the' bottom of the receptacle. A nail conveyor 25 consisting of a pair of suitably formed members 26 and 27 adapted to extend along side oi", and to be spaced from, each other, have the members 26 and 27 respectively connected with the wall portions 22 and 23 of the nail receptacle.

For adjustably attaching the conveyor member 26 and 27 to each other, blocks 28, 'arranged in pairs, may be secured to the members by any suitable means, such as screws 29, and a plate 30, having slots 31 therein, is provided, so that the nail receptacle 21 and the nail conveyor 25 may thereby be degree of adjustability and firmly secured to the plate by the respective screws 29. In each pair of the blocks 28 one of the'blocks preferably has a dowel 32 liXed therein,

while the other block has a correspondingV hole .for slidably fitting the block on the dowel. Also, a screw 33 is shown as being threaded through one block in each pair, while the other block in the pair is drilled for clearance of the screw, and around the screw and between the two blocks in each pair is placed an expansion coil spring 3a. Thus, by the turning of the-screws 33 and by the co-operating action of the springs 34, the conveyermembers 26 Vand 27 are adapted to hold a row of nails therebetween, and they may bel spaced from each other so as to accommodate therebetween nails of diierent mounted on the plate with a certain i thickness'. It should also be observed that` the wall portions 22 and 28 of the nail receptacle, by their attachment to the respective conveyer members, are adjustable therewith and adapted to form a longitudinal opening at the bottom of the nail receptacle in registration` with the space between the conveyer' members in order to accommodate the heads of the nails held in the nail conveyer.

Each of the conveyer members 26 and 27 isvv preferably curved, as viewed laterally and as shown in Figure 1, and a. plate 35, extending over the conveyer members and corresponding in curvature with them, is `secured to one of the members so as to be spaced from them sufficiently for allowing a 'free sliding of the nail heads between the plate and the conveyer members, while at the same time the plate prevents an upward dis-A charge of the nails from the nail conveyer, To the plate 30 is secured an angle plate 66 at one ofits wings, and at its other wing the bracket is secured to the rod 12. The bracket thus supports the nail receptacle 21 and the nail conveyer 25 in inclined positions, so that nails or tacks 37, dropped into the receptacle and held between the conveyer members, as shown iu Figure 3, may be moved by gravity toward the free end ot the nail conveyer.

Near to the free end of the nail conveyer the conveyer member 27, preferably bifurcated for this purpose, has 4pivotally secured therein a rocking, nail-holding ele- Ament 38, which is provided with a tongue i-,eeatsee 39 adapted' to be engaged by a wedge-shaped portion 40 of a member 4l slidably retained uponv the conveyer member by a bracket 42, and a spring 43 is suitably mounted for normally holding. the element in a position so as to allow the nails 37 to pass to the free, end of the nail conveyer, the sliding member 41 preferably being retract-ible only far enough from the rocking element to allowv the proper operation thereof. 'In order to manually operate the rocking element for holding a nail at the free end of the nail conveyer the sliding member 4l is at its end opposite to the wedge portion 40 pivotally connected with one arm of a bellcrank lever 44, and the other arm of the bellcrank lever is in its turn pivotally connected with one end of a rod 45, slidably mounted in brackets 46 on the plate 3() so as to be inclined toward the bell-crank lever and in a position for the free swinging thereof, the pivotal connections of the bell-crank lever 44 with the sliding member 41 and the rod 45, of course, being such as to allow a free swinging movement oit the lever. At its upper end. the rod is preferably provided Witha button 47, and a compression springY 48, which is coiled around the rod between theuppermost bracket 4G and a collar 49, secured to the rod, serves to hold the rod pushedupward sov as to allow the rocking element 3S to be swung to, and normally retained in, its nail-clearing position in the nail conveyer.

A spring 50 is secured to the conveyer member 26 at a short distance 'from the lree end of the nail conveyer. This spring is bent so as to extend transversely of the nail conveyerat its tree end, as shown iu Figures 2,. 3 and 5, so that, when a nail has passed through the nail conveyer to its tree end,l the spring yieldingly retains the-nail thereat, and the rocking element 38 may be provided with: a cut-out portion 5l, and it is otherwise so shaped that by a suiiicient rocking movement against the tension ot' the spring4 43 the element is adapted to catch the nail at the free end of the nail eonveyer in the portion 5l, and that therefore, `when the nail is thus pressed against the conveyer member 26, it is held frictionally in the nail conveyer.

Preferably at the,- beginning of the curved portion of the nail conveyer the conveyer member 27 has secu-red thereto a bracket 52, which extends toward the bar 8 and has oscillatively secured thereupon a memberl 53 provided with an arm 54, which is adapted to be. engaged by tripper bars 55 adjustably secured upon the bar S. Upon the oscillative member 53 and on each side of the pivottherefor is pivotallyv attached a block 56, and each block 56 has secured thereto one end of a bar 57. These bars 57 extend alongside of each other and transversely ot the nail conveyer 25 and are adapted by the oscillative movement of' the member 53 to slide alternately across the space between the conveyer members 26 and 27 so that, when the nail conveyerY is in its normal position, as shown in Figure 2, a row of nails 37 is retained in the conveyer by one bar, and, when the nail con- Veyer is moved from its normal position to the position shownl in Figure 3, this bar is retracted and thereby releases the nail nearest thereto so as to allow the nail tol move by gravity toward the free end of the conveyer. Into the bracket 52 is threaded a screw 58, which has a taper end adapted to extend between the bars 57, and the conveyer member 27 has therein a cut-out portion 59', in which extends a spring GO suitably secured to the bracket 52 and provided with arms term-inating in portions that hook over the respective bars 57. This spring is count orn the convergent side walls ot' the;

receptacle the nails will be disposed to form a single row at the bottom ot the receptacle and between the mem-bers 26 and 27 oi the:

nail conveyer, the heads of the nails preventing the nails from 'falling through the conveyer. The operator then .grips the main handle 3 with the fingers of one hand, at the same time engaging the auxiliaryhandle l5 with the inside ot'- the hand, and, placing the nail setter in its desired position on an object, contracts the hand and thereby moves the auxiliary handle toward' the main handle against the tension et' the springs `17 and 18. This motion causes the naiil receptacle andthe nail conveyer to move forward and the arm 54 ot' the oscillative mem-ber 53 to contact the forward tripper bar 55 and to be moved thereby, thus retracting the forward bar 57 and allowing the nail 37 nearest thereto to pass to the free end of the nail conveyer, where it is retained by the spring 50. Vith the thumb of the same hand that holds the handles 3 and l5 the operator then depresses the button 47 and thus causes the rod 45 to rock the element 38 to its position for catching and holding the nail in, and at the free end of, the comf'eyer. The nail may then be held with any required tension in the conveyer, according toy the amount of pressure the operator exerts upon the button 47.

For some nail-setting work the use of the guide member l is not required, and in such cases it may be removed from the trame 2. I-Iowever, it may expedite the nail setting to use the guide member, for instance, in connection with work on shoe soles, as indicated in Figure 2, and on other objects or whensoever it is convenient to guide the nail setter alongl the edge of an object tor setting nails at predetermined spots thereon.

In order to adapt the nail setter particularly :tor the use oi? shinglers the main handle 3 may be supported upon a specially :formed guide member orlrame structure (51, which is Alormed with end portions 62 `and 63, preferably at substantially right angles to the intermediate part ot the trame structure, as shown in Figure 6, in which shingles are indicated by dot-and-dash lines. In this form of the nailsetter the auxiliary handle 64 may extend into the trame structure 61 so as to be adapted to slide with its lower end in a slot formed longitudinally in the frame structure. The end portion 62 is shorter than the end portion 6350 that the inside of the end portion 63 may be placed along the end edge ot a shingle in one row, and a shingle in a succeeding row may be placed in the `desired nailing position with its end edge in contact with the outside ot thel end portion 62, the distance between the inside ot the end portion 68 and the outside o the end portion 62 thus determining how much of the shingle surfaces is to be @exposed to the weather.

Although in the foregoing I have described one embodiment of my invention, it is evident that the principle thereof can be enibodied in other forms. I therefore reserve the right to make such modifications and changes as are .in accordance with the spirit oi the invention and come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a nail setter adapted for setting nails at predetermined spots, a frame; a receptacle slidably mounted on the trame and adapted to receive nails therein; conveying means connected with the receptacle `'for leading nails therefrom; and manually operated means for holding a nail in the conveying means while the nail set.

2. In a nail setter adapted for setting nails at predetermined spots, a trame; a receptacle slidably mounted on the trame and adapted to receive nails therein; a nail conveyer connected with the receptacle for leading the nails therefrom; means for allowing the passage of only one nail at a time through the nail conveyer to the free end thereof; means at the free end of the nail conveyer for yieldingly retaining the nail passed through the conveyer; and manually operated means for holding the nail in, and

at the free end of, the nail conveyer while the nail is set.

8. In a nail setter adapted for setting nails at predetermined spots, a trame; a nail conveyer comprising a pair of'members slidably connected with the frame and adapted to be spaced trom each other-so as to hold a row of nails between them; means for spacing the conveyer members from each other as to accommodate nails of diterent thickness in the conveyer; a nail receptacle comprising wall portions connected with the respective conveyer member so as to be adjustable therewith and adapted to `form a longitudinal. opening at the bottom of the receptacle in registration with the space between the conveyer members in order to accommodate the heads of the nails in the row between the conveyer members; means atv the free end of the nail conveyer for yieldingly retaining the nails passed through the conveyer; and manually operated means for holding the nail in, and at the free end of, the conveyer while the nail is set.

et. In a nail setter adapted for setting nails at predetermined spots, a frame; a nail conveyor comprising a pair of members slidably connected with the frame and adapted to be spaced from each other so as to hold a row of nails between them; means tor spacing the conveyer members from each other so as to accommodate nails of different thiol-:ness in the conveyer; a nail receptacle comprising wall portions connected with the respective conveyer members so as to be adjustable therewith and adapted to form a longitudinal opening at the 'bottom of the receptacle in registration with the space between the conveyer members in 'order to accommodate-the heads of the nails in the r'ow between the conveyer members, the nail receptacle and the nail conveyer being adapted to be held in an inclined position so that the nails may be moved by gravity toward the free end of the conveyer; a member oscillatively mounted on the conveyer; bars pivotally connected with the oscillative member and slidably mounted alongside of each other so as to extend transverselyof the conveyer, the bars being adapted to slide alternately across the space between the conveyer means, so that, when the nail conveyer is in its normal position, the nails are retained in the conveyer by one bar, and when the nail conveyer is moved from its normal position this bar is retracted and thereby releases the nail nearest thereto so as to allow the nail'to move toward the 'free end of the conveyer while the' second bar retains the other nails in the conveyer; means secured to the trame for operating the oscillative member when the nail conveyer is slid; means at the free end of the nail conveyer for yieldingly retaining the nail. passed through the conveyer, and manually operated means for holding the nail in, and at the free end of, the nail conveyer while the nail is set.

5. In a. nail setter adapted for setting nails at predetermined spots, a frame, a nail conveyer comprising a pair of members slidably connected with the frame and adapted to be spaced from each other so as to hold a row of nails between them; means for spacing the conveyer members from each other so as to accommodate nails of dilerent thickness in the conveyer; a nail receptacle compris ing wall portions connected with the respective conveyer members so as to be adjustable therewith and adapted to form a longitudinal opening at the bottom of the receptacle in registration with the space between the conveyer members in order to accommodate the heads of the nails in the row between the conveyer members, the nail receptacle and the nail conveyer being adapted t be held in an inclined position so that the nails may be moved by gravity toward the free end of the conveyer; a member oscillatively mounted on the conveyer; bars pivotally connected with the oscillative member and slidably mounted alongside of each other so as to extend transversely of the conveyer, the bars being adapted to slide alternately across the space between the conveyer members, so that when the nail conveyer is in its normal position, the nails are retained in the conveyer by one bar, and, when the nail conveyer is moved from its normal position, this bar is retracted and thereby releases the nail nearest thereto so as to allow the nail to move toward the free end of the conveyer while the second bar retains the other nails in the conveyer; means secured to the frame for operating the oscillative member when the nail conveyer is slid; means for adjustably separating the bars in correspondence with the thickness of the nails that pass through the nail conveyer; means at the free end of the nail conveyer for yieldingly retaining the nail passed through the conveyer; and manually operated means for holding the nail in, and at the free end of, the nail conveyer while the nail is set.

6. In a nail setter adapted for setting nails at predetermined spots, a frame; a receptacle slidably mounted on the frame and adapted to receive nails therein; a nail conveyer connected with the receptacle for leading the nails therefrom; spring means at the free end of the nail conveyer for yieldingly retaining the nails passed through the conveyer; and a rocking element pivotally secured to the nail conveyer and adapt-- ed to be manually operated for holding a nail at the free end of the nail conveyer while the nail is set.

7. In a nail setter adapted for setting nails at predetermined spots, a frame; a receptaele slidably mounted on the frame and adapted to receive nails therein; a nail conveyer connected with the receptacle for leading the nails therefrom; means at the free end of the nail conveyer for yieldingly retaining t'he nails passed through the conveyer; a rocking element pivotally secured to the nail conveyer and adapted to be swung so as to hold a nail in, and at the free end of, the nail conveyer; means for normally urging the rocking element away from its nail-holding position; and means associated with the nail conveyer and adapted to be manually operated for swinging the rocking element to, and retaining the element in, the nail-holding position; and means adapted to hold the manually operated means normally in a position for allowing the rocking element to be swung away from its nail-holding position.

8. In a nail setter, a iframe; a receptacle slidably mounted on the frame and adapted to receive nails therein; conveying means connected with the receptacle for leading the nails therefrom; a guide member secured to the frame and adapted to engage the edge of an object so that the nail setter may be moved along the edge for setting nails at predetermined spots on the object; and manually operated means for holding a nail in the conveying means while the nail is set on the object.

9. In a nail setter, a frame formed with a main handle whereby the nail setter is adapted to be moved manually for setting nails at predetermined spots on an object;

an auxiliarv handle slidably connected with the main handle and the frame and adapted to be grasped together with the main handle by the hand of an operator and to be pressed thereby toward the main handle; means for normally urging the auxiliary handle away from the main handle; a receptacle adjustably connected with the auxiliary handle and adapted to receive nails therein; a nail conveyer connected with the receptacle for leading the nails therefrom; means operable by the movement of the auxiliary handle to and from the main handle for allowing the nails to pass one at a time from the receptacle to the free end of the nail conveyer; and manually operated means for holding a nail in, and at the free end of, the nail conveyer while the nail is set on the object.

EDWARD F. MALOUF.

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